DESCRIPTION
Align voices for compelling impact of your WHOLE story. Who is in? Who isn’t? Why? How to change that? What’s important to them? Answer questions before they arise. This “tool” creates a solid foundations in project management and corporate governance and their respective players, decision makers and responsible managers important to the story. It identifies every to the product story important person and their power to push or slow it down. It identifies the emotional and rational triggers and shows how to handle them to get all needed buyins.
Origins:
Evolved from Stanford Research Institute’s use of “stakeholder” in 1963, formalized by R. Edward Freeman in Strategic Management in 1984.
USED BY
Ideal when buy‑in, alignment, or behavior change is critical like launching a new product requiring alignment across finance, marketing, customer service, and regulators.
Approximately needed time
- Step 1: 1 hours
- Step 2: 2 hours
- Step 3: 2 hours
- Step 4: 4 hours
- Step 5: 3 hours
- TOTAL: 12 hours
METHOD
MATERIAL YOU COULD NEED: Whiteboard, blanc poster, stakeholder matrix/template, power‑Interest grids, Salience models, network diagrams, communication and/or editorial plan, stakeholder interview guides or survey forms org charts, customer journey maps, past project reviews, Marketing, designers, subject experts.
STAKEHOLDER GOOD TO KNOW: Strategic presentations, change initiatives, investor pitches, marketing campaigns, mergers and any context with multiple audiences whose perceptions matter, project lead, business and data analyst, strategy managers, communication department, PMO.
STEPS
IDENTIFY: “Who is Who” for your story.
Who do you need to know? Who influences the story? Who is impacted by your story. Who could support your story? Who gets and who loses a benefit? To answer these questions, brainstorm with your team and internals, who is important: C‑suite, employees, manager, PR, sales, etc. and external customers, regulators, investors, etc.. Map all information you already have.
Supporting methods: Stakeholder matrix
Example: “For a sustainability report, identify investors, environmental NGOs, regulators, media.”
ANALYZE AND MAP: Understand your stakeholders.
Find out, on one sight, who they are and how they are related to each other. Who to focus on and where to take a risk if needed. Prioritize and tailor the messages according to their needs to set up messaging effectively. Assess each stakeholder’s power, interest, urgency, legitimacy. Plot in Power/Interest grid. Document their needs, concerns, preferred channels.
Supporting methods: Salience model, excel matrices, confluence boards
Example: CFO = high power/high interest; needs ROI and risk clarity; engage via board meeting with charts.
ENGAGEMENT DEFINITION: Design a strategy how to get them all. 😉
Find out how to “translate” what everyone needs to know to support your story. Plan who needs to hears what, when, and how to ensure a buyin. Create this for each stakeholder group and selct the right tactic/approach: executive briefings, email updates, workshops including the setting of their frequencies and responsibilities of each and everyone.
Supporting methods: RACI matrix, communication or editorial plan templates
Example: Customer group → webinar; regulators → private compliance meeting.
TAILOR-MAKE NARRATIVES: NO One-size-fits-all…
Now translate the gained stakeholder insights into your story by phrasing messages as anwers before your audience ask the question you no already know. Adapt your core story per audience and map them to emphasize “one picture”-acceptance, like financials for CFO, social impact for NGOs, technical details for engineers. Use a storyboard to visualize the messages and their transfers on a visual logical narrative way.
Supporting methods: Storyboard, messaging frameworks, pyramid logic.
Example: CFO deck includes cost-benefit slide; NGO comms focuses on sustainability outcomes.
ENGAGE & ITERATE: Get all on the same side of the coin.
Tell and validate it and enhance the overall story impact. Present pilots to stakeholder groups, collect feedback, monitor sentiment and adjust your story to the best version you can make. Use surveys, follow‑up sessions, update narratives accordingly. Be aware, that it could make sense to tell the same story in different ways to get the maximum output.
Supporting methods: Feedback forms, survey tools, sentiment tracking.
Example: Investor says growth timeline unclear—insert forecast slide and reframe sequence.
ORIGINAL MULTI STEP VERSION (7 steps)
Typical storyboard process:
- Identify – list all relevant parties
- Analyze – assess power, interest, legitimacy
- Map – visual Power–Interest/salience models
- Strategize – tailor engagement tactics
- Plan – schedule communications, responsibilities
- Engage – execute interactions
- Monitor – review, adjust plans over time
PROMINENT BRANDS USING IT
Consulting firms and large consumer brands (e.g., P&G, Unilever) employ stakeholder frameworks to craft differentiated, audience-specific campaigns.
Apple: Engages employees, press, analysts via tailored messaging during product launches.
Unilever: Frames sustainability stories differently for investors, consumers, NGOs.
Tesla: Manages stakeholder narratives across forums ranging from shareholders to regulators.
ANECDOTE
A telecom firm used stakeholder mapping and targeted narrative arcs to secure regulatory approval, from initial neutral stance to active advocacy, by iteratively reshaping messages after each regulator briefing.
